Cloud Mountain's ability to operate as a year-round residential Dharma retreat center is entirely dependent on the dedication, commitment, generosity and hard work of our staff. Without the gifts of energy, time, skills, humility, renunciation and lovingkindess (to name only a few of the many qualities it takes to do this work and do it well), we could not offer the various kinds of service needed to provide a seamless and supportive container for deep Dharma practice.

Our Board of Directors and our teachers also provide vital service, and tend to be more visible in their Dharma service roles. We wish to take this opportunity to offer special recognition and to honor those whose service is less visible, but whose hands-on work makes retreats possible. Read More

In the interests of keeping retreat fees low and retreats accessible to as many people as possible, one of our practices as a Dharma organization is to maintain the smallest staff possible. Our Dharma team consists of 6 full-time and 2 part-time staff members. Some are residential, some live off site. Among our current staff, our ecumenical spirit extends to include a variety of spiritual paths: Buddhist (from various traditions), Christian, pagan, shamanic, and non-dual. We "Cloud Mountaineers" find our common ground in a profound spirit of service, love and strong devotion to our collective mission to help those who come to spiritually deepen.

Part of our cultural conditioning as westerners makes it easy for us to value and appreciate our Dharma teachers -rightly so! - for the gifts they give us through their teaching. It's not nearly as common for those who offer more humble and less visible Dharma service to be acknowledged and valued in the same way. In taking this opportunity to honor our own staff, it's our hope to encourage all to remember that human hands and human hearts work in so many ways - both visible and invisible to us - to gift us the support we need in this unfolding we call human life. To cultivate this awareness invariably deepens our gratitude, which the Buddha called one of the highest spiritual blessings.

"There are two persons who are rare in the world. Which two? First, the one who volunteers to help others selflessly (pubbakari). And second, the one who is grateful (katannu) and helps in return (katavedi)."
-The Buddha, from the Anguttaa Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka)

In cultivating gratitude for service and helpfulness wherever and in whomever we encounter it, we hope that all will be inspired to "pay it forward" and offer help and service in return in this world. Working together in this spirit, we can all help to ground the Dharma here in the west in ways that are in the deepest integrity with the principles of the Dharma, resilient to the fetters of our own cultural conditioning. Together we can create a better world.

For more information about any individual, please click on their photo.

Cloud Mountain has the honor and privilege of hosting the following teachers. One of our most important responsibilities as a Dharma center in service to our retreatants is to carefully select and invite teachers who embody certain important qualities, including clear understanding of the teachings of the Buddha, impeccable ethics, compassion, a depth of realization of the teachings that allows them to work with students at any level of practice and the humility to know themselves to still be students of Buddhadharma requiring further training in the noble eightfold path of liberation. We feel confident that among these teachers every student will find an effective and trustworthy guide.